It’s been four and a half years since POMEcast Moon Podcast Power recapped the then-final episode of Sailor Moon Crystal and departed from our collective digital airwaves. To celebrate the release of Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie, MPP hosts Ashley and CC reunited to laugh, cry, and have a few galaxia-brain moments along the way.
NOTE: We spell Nehelennia’s name inconsistently throughout, but that’s mostly because Eternal spells it differently than the original series did.
CC: SO before we get started in earnest
to fill folks in on some context: back in the old old early days of POME, Ashley and I hosted a Sailor Moon Crystal podcast right here on POME!
but rather than dig up our old Soundcloud account, we figured that recapping the brand new Sailor Moon Crystal movies in a format that better supports images might be more fun and also requires less catchup for folks who maybe don’t want to listen to 2015-2017 CC & Ashley talk for several hours LOL
Ashley: plus, honestly, it really feels forever ago since we did the podcast and i can’t rely on my pandemic-destroyed brain to remember how to talk for an audience
(even just an audience of us and our three friends lol)
CC: bless all 3 of those friends
also YES truly
if you are one of those three friends, we’re not necessarily gonna get into all the old Moon Podcast Power podcast segments, but we ARE going to talk sailor moon feelings about these new movies!!!!!
ok so just to kick things off tho
like
what a bunch of feelings
idk how you felt about this wild ride but I started off thinking, “oh, sailor moon crystal” and ended yelling “LET’S GOOOOO LESBIANS” out loud alone in my living room several times
Ashley: HAHAHAHA my GOD
not to give too much away at the start, but they really gave the gays everything we want, not even gonna lie
i was pretty blown away by the Tasteful Lesbian Fanservice haha
CC: yeah like
if we were still a podcast
could we share THIS?
Ashley: BROOOOOOOO
my all time fave haruka outfit possibly
but also, stepping back a step – i was just really kind of impressed / surprised at how much like, my brain and my soul actually needed this, and it took me to a very happy comfort zone sort of place, while still also feeling fresh and new
CC: I KNOW
it had a lot of things I expected
(my sincerest apologies to all the artists who had to draw the horse, we called that being a wild ride back in our predictions in 2016 LOL)
and a lot of stuff I didn’t, like nice character moments and just
that lush sailor moon atmosphere that I think wasn’t as consistent back in the original series
but also it was just nice to spend some time with these folks
just all these characters who have been so dear to me for almost all my life LOL
Ashley: yep, big agree to all of this
i think no matter who your favorite character is, they all really got a chance to shine and turn an amazing look
CC: THE LOOOOOOKS
Ashley: we used to have the podcast segment where we would compare each episode to the manga
because it was kind of sold as like, being a series that was closer to the manga than the old anime series
and like, it basically just turned into us swooning over takeuchi’s fashion drawing and the looks from the manga and begging sailor moon crystal to throw us a bone
CC: and I mean they truly delivered here
Ashley: 90s nostalgia finally done right!!!!!!!
CC: I can’t even tell you which look was my favorite, but I will say that setsuna’s mesh goth housewear just had my jaw dropping
Ashley: all i can say is happy pride, folks
CC: LMAOOOO
you called it!! the thrupple isn’t just surviving they’re THRIVING
Ashley: YESSSSS
crying happy tears right now
it’s true, folks: this is pretty much as close to like a canon polyamorous outer senshi confirmation as we’ve ever gotten
CC: their rings!!!! ahhh!!!!
Ashley: I WAS JUST TYPING HAHAHA… they all three… wear matching “promise” rings
CC: “promise” lol sure
Ashley: promise to flaunt it while we got it
CC: this is the most married image I’ve ever seen in my life lol
love this for them
Ashley: ???? ???? ????
GOD same
CC: I gotta say I WISH I had been able to reread this whole portion of the original manga because I do feel like it is a lot more faithful
a lot of stuff the original series I think kinda sidestepped, like how everyone has castles, or the amazoness quartet being Chibiusa’s squad someday got picked back up here, which is fun
Ashley: yeah, i liked that lore coming back a lot
i think it also very successfully captured those very shojo long “empty” moments and mood shots
like, this was the first time since sailor moon crystal started that it felt like the story could just breathe
CC: which is wild bc they really did cram everything into two movies
Ashley: hahahahahaha truly!
CC: they really hit pretty much all the main points
the weird age swap plot
Ashley: omfg
CC: the horse girl + horse romance
Ashley: my simultaneous discomfort and glee
like, this story is fucking WEIRD and i love it, thank you for keeping all the weird shit
CC: hotaru actually getting to be conscious and present
but also YES all the weird stuff
you know, my only real disappointment
was just, as I think we’ve discussed, i am an eternal queen nehelennia simp so I really wish my girl had gotten to do more in this
Ashley: hahahaha
CC: I feel like these movies were probably way closer to the manga than original SuperS anime but
I just loved original anime Nehelennia
just decides to drag everybody else to hell bc she’s lonely and gets a classic sailor moon (anime) redemption arc
I feel like Princess Naoko is way less forgiving to her villains in the manga, where they get melted
Ashley: hahahahahaha
CC: (as they do in Crystal and even in that these movies delivered!)
Ashley: yep the cronification scenes / body horror villian defeat scenes were EXCELLENT
i mean, truly peak
CC: I couldn’t find a high quality clip of it but if you’re looking to kill about 4 minutes, I’d recommend revisiting Nehelennia’s last stand in the original anime, it makes me cry every time LOL
(this seems to be a rip from an old VHS so maybe is not for everyone ha ha)
ikuhara ripping my heart out yet again LOL
Ashley: but i’m with you – OG anime nehelenia had just such a vibrant and aggressive energy. this nehelenia was pretty much just vibing
CC: still tho, just such a great villain design, only topped by galaxia
Ashley: agree
although i have to say… the amazoness quartet… next-level, next millennia BADDIES
CC: I KNOW
love
they’re so great
Ashley: i have never and will never get over Juno’s fuckin lowrider cutout parachute pants
CC: i am impressed that you caught her name bc I could not match them
i feel like i have failed in my lifelong sailor moon devotion
Ashley: i think from left to right on that last still it’s Vesta, Ceres, Pallas and Juno
CC: amazing, bless
I didn’t realize the red one’s bikini didn’t have a clasp in the front or anything, it’s just an open vest LOL
Ashley: HAHA
CC: keeping that thing in place while doing literal acrobatics, there must be legit black magic involved
Ashley: and you know what, good for them
CC: yeah truly
Ashley: who needs hollywood tape when you simply have T W I S T E D. E N E R G Y
CC: bra held together by nightmares
you love to see it
Ashley: highly validating
CC: the energy is twisted but not those bra straps; those are staying right where they need to be
Ashley: LOL
truly otherworldly
CC: oh so the other group I was so happy to see
were my favorite gender nonconfirming clowns
i love them so much
the original anime gives you so much more time with them but I feel like crystal made every moment with the trio work
Ashley: AHHHHHHH YESSSSS
they really did, honestly i think this was the peak voice acting of the movies
CC: i did not expect hawkeye to tear my tender little heart into pieces this way
Ashley: I KNOOOOOWWWWWWWWW
two gender nonconforming LEGENDS supporting one another even though they must meet as enemies on the battlefield !!!!!
ILIAD WHO
CC: LMAOOOOO
alright well not to segue too hard
but after all this shouting
i have to admit i’m feeling
a little horse
Ashley: pffffffftttttjsn;dfkandsklfjamsfam’sdlFAS<flakds
CC: THANK U FOR ALLOWING ME TO SET THAT ONE UP AND KEEP ON RIDING AWAY WITH IT
Ashley: i mean, literally when i woke up this morning (a little hungover but not devastatingly so) all i could think was
… horse … kiss …
CC: LOL
Ashley: ladies, if the only boy you’ve ever had a crush on is a literal horse, you might be gay…
CC: yeah I gotta clarify, I am not really feelin the little horse
but it did help soften the blow for this realization early
Ashley: HAAAAAAAAAA i literally yelled and lorelei looked up at me like “wtf”
CC: i mean you know what? i am not here to judge chibiusa for her horse boy(friend)
Ashley: i AM here to judge chibiusa for being in love with her future dad
CC: oh yeah that part gets me every time
Ashley: although… oh my god, i just realized that’s also a Doctor Who plotline lol
CC: OH NO
Ashley: i mean, not really
but kind of
idk like, the Doctor has a hot wife, and you later find out her mom is the Doctor’s flirty companion
with time shit in between ANYWAY naoko did it first and i guess better but also
like… do you ever just wonder how many psychoanalysts and therapists and stuff have to hear the plot of sailor moon described to them over the course of their careers
CC: I believe it!
Ashley: like naoko takeuchi was not only on some next-level gender stuff but also just really running full tilt into freud lmao
CC: the venn diagram of therapists who learned a lot about animal crossing last spring and therapists who have gleaned a lot from sailor moon is probably mostly just one circle (edited)
Ashley: ahhhhh hahaha yes
CC: but speaking of analysis
i did not really know what to do with this????
my best read on it is when usagi says
Ashley: i literally LOLed at this moment hahaha
CC: i mean i love this for him
not the doing her homework for her
but like: soft mamo
open hearted mamo
good for you my dude
I appreciated his struggle with feeling like a burden and the ultimate resolution where he gets a crystal of his own, which is golden, bc it’s like the sun???? beautiful. naoko. ur brain. just so huge.
Ashley: in typical usagi fashion, dreaming of “what if my boyfriend was free of all his trauma”
CC: wahhhhh
Ashley: HAHAHA truly huge brain
but yeah… i also feel like these movies actually even brought a little clarity to his arc!
in the manga he really is very aloof and so much of what we know about him is just usagi musing on what his deal is (edited)
CC: also like, the series as a whole??
I’m sure the manga makes these connections in ways the monster of the week format of the original anime made difficult
but SuperS really does act as a really nice bridge between the various arcs?
like, connecting R, with the past life stuff, with unrest on the past moon kingdom and how it impacted their reincarnations
Ashley: right! and also getting power from their understanding of themselves in the present
the two are connected but ultimately this fight in this arc is about moving out of that past cycle and turning to face their actual (uncertain and kind of scary!!!) futures
CC: but ALSO one thing I just picked up on
the pipeline from ye olde moon kingdome
to the “every celestial body has a sailor senshi” plot of Stars
Ashley: hahahaha yes
very galaxy brain moment here
CC:
GALAXIA BRAIN
Ashley: HAAAAAA YESSS
CC: but also “everybody has their own sailor crystals, which definitely will never come back around, ANYway….”
Ashley: L O L
CC: god! we’ve been talking for an hour and it just feels like we couldn’t possibly cover everything here
Ashley: yeah same… idk it’s a lot! and it’s mostly very good, very healing and fun!
CC: there are two things I really want to talk about before we wrap up
one is
a fun surprise but one of the songs that plays in the credits for the first movie
is actually a cover from an older sailor moon b-side!
Ashley: OH SHIT!!!!! i loved this song and i had no idea, that’s really cool
CC: that “lonely lonely heart” chorus hit my ears and pierced my soul LOL
Ashley: hahaha
CC: for a second, I thought that the ending theme for the second movie was “la soldier” but sadly it wasn’t (though if they make a stars movie……maybe……..)
Ashley: btw, this might be a good time to mention, you can listen to the soundtrack for Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal on spotify!
CC: oh bless u
Ashley: GOD i REALLY want a stars movie more than ever!!!!!!!!
CC: now that I know it can be done right!
we’ll only be like…..40 by the time it comes out; i can wait til then
Ashley: Exactly! Stars movie with good pacing and absolute gender fuckery AND synthwave soundtrack
WE WILL BE THE NEHELENNIA CRONES (and i am fine with this)
CC: GOD
the zeitgeist is ripe for a stars movie
Ashley: very agree
CC: ok the second thing
was
so did you notice rei’s grandpa’s glowup?
Ashley: HA YOU KNOW I DID
CC:
Ashley: he got benjamin buttoned
CC: SO
interestingly
Youths may not know that in the original anime, he was just Generic Pervert Grandfather #17, just indistinguishable from any other anime grandpa
but this is once again a reboot back to princess naoko’s original vision!!!
Ashley: GOD i forgot
CC: me too!!!!!
Ashley: babe tbh. actually looks related to rei, lol
CC: truly
between him and Ami’s mom, who can also get it
Ashley: OMFG
CC:
Ashley: i think ami’s mom showing up was the gayest moment in these movies, and that is actually SAYING SOMETHING
CC: LOL
Ashley: the entire squad was like, ready to gay die for her
CC: i mean who isn’t
nobody i know, that’s for sure
Ashley: it’s impossible to imagine frankly
CC: ;__;
but that’s all I’ve got!
any final thoughts before we wrap this up?
Ashley: yeah!!!! i came very ready with my final thought
but before i say it, i also want to say: i just highly recommend these movies! really excellent all around and we barely touched on a lot of it, there are many great moments we have not spoiled
that said — LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOO COMRADE SAILOR MOON:
CC: love this for her and for all of us ;__;
my final thought is just to piggyback on this but
if sailor saturn can unionize the amazoness quartet, we can all unionize our workplaces
Ashley: YES!!!!
CC:
or at least, we all have the power to fight for more!!!
Ashley: our collective goth gf said WORKPLACE DEMOCRACY!!!
CC: yes!!!!!
well ashley, i gotta say
the girls were back in town and i just loved to see it
I hope we get to do this again in 3-10 years when sailor moon crystal stars comes out (fingers crossed!!!!)
Ashley: UGH, me too. and i’m glad i got to yell about it with you again!! and i can’t wait for the (hopeful) next one!!!!
All images in this article via Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie unless otherwise noted.
